I've been looking online to upgrade my exercise bike to something better, and it is truly painful to compare Irish prices to those in the UK. The bike I've been looking at is the York C301, available at Argos.ie for €577. The same bike at Argos.co.uk is £399, and at Amazon.co.uk, only £319. Neither Argos in the UK nor Amazon will ship the bike to Ireland.

Sometimes all you can do is cry.

I should add that the bike is not available to buy or pick up in an Argos shop, so I can't just cross the border.

I wonder might you be better off getting a second-hand machine from a gym? Usually they use electromagnetic braking rather than belts or pads, so there's little to go wrong once they've been given a quick tune up.

Although this thread is more than two years old now, I am currently feeling the pain myself, as prices of exercise bikes (and to a lesser extent, range of products available) in Ireland are a sad jake compared to the same products across the northern border, or to the other side of the irish sea.

For example, a Pro-form 380 ZLX Exercise Cycle is as low as 249 GBP (less than 300€) at some sites in the UK, delivery included, but in Ireland you are lucky if you can get the same product below 450€. This is not a margin thing, it has to be either irish merchants completely out of reality, or the wholesalers screwing the irish customer with prices well above those they sell to retail shops in the UK.

It's quite sad, but is seems even more disappointing considering there are lots of more necessary things for daily living that are complete rip-offs in Ireland compared to the bigger UK, or somewhere else in the continent.

Although this thread is more than two years old now, I am currently feeling the pain myself, as prices of exercise bikes (and to a lesser extent, range of products available) in Ireland are a sad jake compared to the same products across the northern border, or to the other side of the irish sea.

For example, a Pro-form 380 ZLX Exercise Cycle is as low as 249 GBP (less than 300€) at some sites in the UK, delivery included, but in Ireland you are lucky if you can get the same product below 450€. This is not a margin thing, it has to be either irish merchants completely out of reality, or the wholesalers screwing the irish customer with prices well above those they sell to retail shops in the UK.

It's quite sad, but is seems even more disappointing considering there are lots of more necessary things for daily living that are complete rip-offs in Ireland compared to the bigger UK, or somewhere else in the continent.

Thanks a lot for the hint, although the fare is going to be higher (already waiting for a quote) just because exercise bikes tend to be very heavy items, but surely it will be cheaper than buying the same product from a local (physical or virtual) Irish shop.

Thanks a lot for the hint, although the fare is going to be higher (already waiting for a quote) just because exercise bikes tend to be very heavy items, but surely it will be cheaper than buying the same product from a local (physical or virtual) Irish shop.

I received a promptly reply to my quote request to deliverme.ie, and it seems they charge 1€ for every Kg. above the 25 Kg. mark. So, for a device weighting 40 Kg., the price for the proxying service would be 37€.

Not very expensive after all, and very worth considering, as the potential savings of buying in UK-only stores more than exceed the additional delivery cost.